Founder, Aerochitech
From the Founder’s Desk
From Curiosity to Aerial Vehicle Sculpting
My journey into engineering began long before I knew it would become my profession.
As a child, I spent many nights on the terrace, looking at the moon, stars and aircraft crossing the sky. That fascination with flight gradually grew into a desire to understand how things were built and, eventually, how aircraft were made.
From Building to Understanding
During college, I began turning that curiosity into actual engineering projects. I built water-powered rockets and chuck gliders of different sizes and eventually took on a much more ambitious academic project—a single-person aircraft powered by a Maruti 800 engine.
The project gave me something more valuable: an understanding of materials, fabrication, engines, aerodynamics and CAD modelling, along with the satisfaction of taking an idea from a concept to something that could physically move. More importantly, it made me realise that I was fascinated not just by flying machines, but by the process of creating them from scratch. That was the beginning of my interest in building a manufacturing-oriented career.
The aircraft taxied, but never flew.
To me, that was not a failure.
Entering the Aerospace & Drone Industry
My professional journey began at Sree Sai Aerotech Innovation, now known as Zuppa GeoNavigation Systems, where I worked on building hobby models and drones for defence PSUs, IITians and engineering aspirants. After a year, I stepped out to explore the rapidly growing drone industry.
Along with a few industry colleagues, I worked on aerial cinematography, operating drones for the Indian film and advertising industries. We worked across five regional-language film industries—Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi—and had the opportunity to work with leading artists, directors, cinematographers and brands.
Flying repeatedly and under demanding conditions strengthened my piloting skills. But it also made me realise that I wanted to go beyond operating drones. I wanted to understand the machine itself—how it was designed, built, repaired and adapted for different missions.
From Flying Drones to Building Them
I eventually moved into drone-based industrial services, working on applications such as mapping, solar-farm inspection, wind-turbine inspection, industrial asset monitoring and mining surveys. Each application required different platforms, payloads and configurations. Working with these systems in the field gave me practical exposure to how industrial drones are actually designed around real-world requirements.
It was during this phase that my focus gradually shifted from simply operating aerial vehicles to understanding their engineering, structure and manufacturability.
I began working with composite materials and computer-aided machining to manufacture parts, fixtures and payload mounts for industrial drones. When replacement structural components were unavailable, I learned to design and manufacture them so that the aircraft could be repaired and returned to service.
This opened the door to another side of engineering—CNC machining, VMCs, routers, EDM, CAM workflows, composite fabrication and the relationship between design and manufacturing.
Building Aerochitech
All these experiences eventually came together in Aerochitech. It was founded with a simple purpose: to help drone and aviation companies turn engineering requirements into physical, flight-ready hardware.
We provide engineering and manufacturing as a service, with a focus on structural components and airframes manufactured from aviation-grade lightweight metal alloys and composite materials.
But manufacturing, to us, is not simply about making a part. It is about understanding the application, translating the engineering requirement into a manufacturable solution, selecting the right material and process, fabricating it with discipline, and documenting the work throughout the process.
At Aerochitech, we aim to follow industry-standard practices wherever applicable, while maintaining documentation and traceability across the work we undertake.
More Than Manufacturing
The journey from repairing a toy cellphone to building an aircraft, flying drones, working with industrial aerial systems, learning composites and machining, and eventually building Aerochitech has shaped the way we approach engineering today.
We understand the perspective of the pilot, the field operator, the engineer and the manufacturer. That experience is what we bring to every project.
Rajabhupalan N
Founder, Aerochitech
Aerochitech is our attempt to bring all of that experience together—to sculpt aerial vehicles and their structural systems from engineering intent into reality.
Aerial Vehicle Sculpting Company.
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